2026 AAEA Summer Conference

Being the District Testing Coordinator is a heavy lift. With new assessments and assessment monitoring coming at us each year, having a system for tracking who was supposed to and who successfully attempted an assessment is paramount to having a successful testing season. Determining eligibilities, managing students expecting to test as students continuously move into and out of the district, and ensuring you reach 95% tested for accountability purposes can all be accomplished by pulling data from the TIDE platform, feeding the dataset into R, and producing an interactive Google Sheet. These sheets allow for tracking of student enrollment along with test completion and produces an overall snapshot of percent tested as we move throughout the testing windows. Completing these sheets at the district level saves schools time and people hours during testing.

Based on a research study of principals whose schools were recognized for academic growth, this session focuses on the leadership moves that some Arkansas principals are making to lead schools that demonstrate the highest academic growth on end of year assessments. Interviews with principals, examination of data, and analysis of leadership practices points to a few fundamental principles and practical strategies that consistently make a difference for student academic growth.